Osadolor Osadolor v. Wolf
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:20-cv-06131
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Osadolor Osadolor v. Wolf, Judge Abrams transferred the immigration-detention petition to New Jersey because the court lacked jurisdiction.
Nathaniel Osadolor Osadolor’s immigration-detention petition was transferred from the Southern District of New York to the District of New Jersey; the merits of his detention and release request were not decided.
What happened
In Nathaniel Osadolor Osadolor v. Chad Wolf, the petitioner, who was representing himself, challenged his immigration detention and requested immediate release through an emergency court order.
The court said habeas cases challenging physical confinement generally must be filed where the detained person is held, with the facility’s immediate custodian as the proper respondent. Because Osadolor was detained in Bergen County, New Jersey, the court concluded that the Southern District of New York lacked jurisdiction.
Judge Ronnie Abrams ordered the case transferred to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey and closed the case in New York. The court did not decide whether Osadolor should be released or whether he could proceed without paying fees; it also denied fee-free status for any appeal.
The detailed version
- Osadolor Osadolor v. Wolf · No. 1:20-cv-06131
- Ronnie Abrams
- Aug. 12, 2020
Background
Nathaniel Osadolor Osadolor, who was detained at the Bergen County Jail in Bergen County, New Jersey, filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 challenging his immigration detention. He represented himself. He also requested an emergency preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order directing his immediate release.
Jurisdiction and transfer
The court explained that a federal court may hear a petition under § 2241 only if it has jurisdiction. For habeas petitions challenging physical confinement, the usual rule is that the proper respondent is the detained person’s immediate custodian—the official responsible for the facility where the person is held—rather than a distant supervisory official.
The court applied that rule to Osadolor’s immigration-detention petition. Because he was held in Bergen County, New Jersey, the court concluded that the petition belonged in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and that the Southern District of New York lacked jurisdiction to hear it.
Ruling
The court ordered the Clerk of Court to transfer the action to the District of New Jersey under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a), directed that a copy of the order be mailed to Osadolor, and closed the case in the Southern District of New York. The court left the decision about whether Osadolor could proceed without paying fees to the transferee court. It also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal. The court did not rule on the merits of Osadolor’s detention challenge or his request for release.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.